I need not, therefore, waste a line prefatory to, or apologetic of, the following illustrative definition of health, by which any one with tolerable acumen may estimate the probable “worth of a life,” or, at all events, be spared the plea of ignorance, or misplaced confidence, when taking a step of such importance as wedlock. There are numerous means of calculating upon the durability of human life, by an examination of the countenance, the gait, the attitude, the form, the skin, the temperament, the breathing, the speech, the sleep, and in fact, to a practised professional eye, there is not much difficulty in observing some diagnostic mark, if sickness be secreted in the constitution. The countenance in health varies with the age. Health is indicated by a plump, not puffy or bloated state of the face, a fresh complexion, and an absence of that depression around and particularly below the eye, so observable in persons of sick health. The nose should not be “pinched,” as it were, at its junction with the face, nor should there be deep indentations, called furrows, or wrinkles, at the angles of the mouth or eyes, which rarely are manifested in healthy individuals, except they be aged through care or time. Many people part very reluctantly with each succeeding year, and few conform to the outward symbols of age. The era was when age was honorable; now few aspire to it, and such is the deception that would be practised, that the coffin-plate is the only tell-tale.
If the teeth have dropped out or decayed, the lower jaw will be observed to be more elevated, the lips drawn inward over the gums, and the chin and nose approximating each other; the cheek bones will also be very prominent, and the skin thereon shiny and tightly drawn: these are pretty fair characteristics of disease, or old age. The temperaments modify the complexion. In the sanguine, it is florid and soft; in the bilious, dark and rigid; in the phlegmatic, lax and pallid; and the nervous is modified by its general union with the two former. In health, the countenance is expressive of contentment and gayety, which indicate a happy state of mind, and healthy condition of body. In ill-health, it is pale and expressive of languor and sadness, signifying discontent and nervous debility. Where asthma exists, or other nervous affections of the chest prevail, there is pallidness or lividity, a worn-down and distressing look, and in consumption, in addition to the above, there are alternately, on the slightest exertion, gentle flushings. A bluish tint of the skin denotes some organic affection of the heart. In dropsy, the countenance is bloated, or of a waxy puffiness; and in acute indigestion, there is a lividity of the lips, nose, and cheeks. A slow and cautious step, a bending of the body, a laxity and flabby feel of the muscles of the arms, chest, and lower extremities, a tumid abdomen, or a swelling of the feet and ankles, are no indications of health. Tremulous hands mark age, nervousness, or intemperance. Hurried breathing, palpitation of the heart, frequent attacks of perspiration, sleeplessness, are all symptomatic of weakness, hysteria, or disease. Persons subject to bleedings, are usually of a waxy paleness, and soft fibre. Allowances must be made for females during the menstrual period, whose complexion, at that period, being less clear and fair, is marked by a dark areola around and below the eyes, the breath is slightly tainted, and a languor is evidenced in all their actions. A voracious or scanty appetite, a dry and shrinking skin, a furred and loaded tongue with indented sides, signify the digestive organs to be deranged. In long-standing dyspepsia, the nose, feet, and hands, are generally cold. Emaciation is an infallible diagnostic of disturbed health, and a bloated state equally characteristic. Fits, gout, rheumatic disorders, asthma, occasional brain affections, diseases of the bladder, &c., can not be considered as warranties of health.
Lastly, with respect to intemperance, the bloated appearance, the tremulous state of the muscular powers, the fetid breath, and the sunken eye, sufficiently identify the cause, to arrest all doubts on the subject. Where intemperance exists in married life, it is the bane of all comfort and enjoyment; and heaven help the unhappy partner of such a companion. There is but one consolation, that every indulgence of this insane practice tends to sap and break up the powers of the constitution, and hastens the close of such a union. The drunkard should be reminded, that “some leaves fall from the tree every time that its trunk is shaken;” and the dreary nakedness of winter is brought on, long before that season would have commenced in the regular course of nature.
IMPUISSANCE, OR IMPOTENCE.
Upon pursuing the consideration of the following infirmities of the Reproductive System, a few prefatory observations are requisite. Perhaps of all the physical powers possessed by man, few are subject to so much abuse as the procreative organs—certainly none are more required to be, in a hygiænic point of view, held in a sounder condition of health, for upon their tone and perfect structure hinge the happiness and perpetuation of the human race. In this age of luxury and sensuality, however, the world seems untiringly hunting after, and more or less obtaining, sexual gratification. There can be no doubt, that a greater amount of this species of sensual enjoyment is indulged in before manhood arrives, than can be obtained when man should be in his vigor. The writer is not insensible to the many alluring publications upon this topic, the end and aim of which are not, honestly, to afford relief to the diffident sufferer, but to add to his misery, by draining his pocket. Of legitimate publications, alas! there are but few, for it appears that qualified medical men have, from some prudish or other such notions, kept aloof from entering the lists. Were it otherwise, many an unfortunate victim might be spared from the avaricious clutch of the empiric; but invalids, from such a knowledge of the absence of fair and honorable references, are obliged to seek (or despair of) relief from the unworthy class in question. How far the tendency of the present work may lead to a reformation, is left for the reader to decide. The novelty of the present compendium may subject it to invidious suspicion; the author but invites comparison, feeling convinced that the contents best bespeak its legitimacy and usefulness.
“Increase and multiply,” is the scriptural text. “Plant trees and beget offspring,” is the apothegm of the Magi. The perpetuation of the species being, with the great Designer of the universe, an object of the first interest, all living beings are mentally and physically formed with a view to this great end.
In the human species, procreation is effected by a congress of the two sexes, and a variety of organs are provided, upon whose condition the due performance of coition mainly depends. The male is destined to furnish a peculiar fecundating secretion, and is accordingly provided with glands to prepare such fluid, and a conduit to convey the same to its proper destination; while the female, being the recipient, possesses an organ capable of effecting a mysterious yet specific change upon the fluid so deposited: a failure, therefore, in any of the structures alluded to, is followed by impotence or sterility.